Category: Uncategorized
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Ka mua, Ka muri
Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua: ‘I walk backwards to move forward’ When raised with parents who are “unprepared,” it typically means they lack emotional regulation, impulse control, and healthy communication skills. Because children learn how to navigate the world by mirroring their caregivers, these deficits aren’t just “missing” traits—they become a blueprint for how the…
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Te Takahi i te Mana: The Invisible Wound of Coercive Control
In my work as a Social Worker, I often hear survivors say, “He didn’t hit me, so I didn’t think it was abuse.” But when we sit down and look at the “fog” they are living in—the rules, the constant monitoring, the isolation—we find a different name for it. In a Western clinical sense, we…
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From Whakamā to Mauri Ora
Understanding family violence through an Ao Māori lens—honoring our past to protect our future. In the modern world, family violence is often treated as a private shame or a legal statistic. But through an Ao Māori (Māori worldview) lens, we see a different story. We see that violence is not a part of our DNA;…
Staying Safe and Sane 